Buoyed by Christopher Costa and Zach Moore, Sequoyah’s boys squad was the lone Cherokee County team to place among the top 10 of their respective classification in Saturday’s cross country state championships in Carrollton.

Costa and Moore led the Chiefs to a ninth-place finish of 32 teams in Class AAAAA. Costa finished 24th in 17 minutes, 49.60 seconds, while Moore was 52nd in 18:23.50.

Sequoyah, which scored 362 points, had a slight improvement from its 10th-place finish in Class AAAA last year.

McIntosh (54) won the Class AAAAA team title, followed by Flowery Branch (84), Pope (142), Greenbrier (152) and Starr’s Mill (216). Creekview was 18th at 481.

Etowah’s boys and girls squads also had strong showings, finishing just outside the top 10 in Class AAAAAA. The Eagles scored 307 points to place 11th of 32 teams, while the Lady Eagles were 12th of 30 squads with a score of 307.

“I wanted both teams to be in the top 10, but we fell just short,” Etowah coach Jesse Howard said. “The guys were three points behind North Cobb for 10th, and the girls were a little further out overall.

“It was a tough course, but based on region results, I thought our guys could have come in eighth. They beat Milton and Wheeler at region, but those teams did better than us at state. The girls were right where I thought they’d be and in the mix for top-10. I’m not disappointed, but I think the nerves got the team.”

Etowah’s boys ran a pretty consistent race and finished as a group — crossing the line within 10 seconds of one another. Blake Beavers (17:55.21) was the first to cross in 59th place, while Michael Perona (18:05.69) came in 75th to round out the team scoring.

Kyla Resnick (21:18.72) paced the Lady Eagles after finishing 39th. Kingsley Green was next at 59th in a time of 21:46.24.

“Only three of the boys had been on that course before, so experience may have been a factor,” Howard said. “The girls weren’t expected to get to state, but we made it and made enough of an impression to be in the top 12.”

Brennan Garriques (18:10.20) finished 43rd to pace Creekview, while Grant Slater (18:52.79) also factored into the team score. The Lady Grizzlies (449) also finished 18th of 32 teams behind strong running from Rachel Garabedian, who was 44th in 21:52.82, and Rachel Boulineau, who was 53rd in 22:03.51.

“Overall, I know the team is disappointed with the finish, but comparing the performances against the other teams, we were right where we were supposed to be,” Creekview coach Ty Brown said. “We’re happy with the kids. They put it all out there.”

River Ridge, making its second straight state meet appearance, finished 17th and 12th in the AAAA boys and girls races, respectively. Marist swept the boys (44) and girls (46) team titles.

Joe Mayes finished 10th in a time of 17:09.67 to pace the Knights, while Hannah Saylor (21:10.45), Kali Kimball (22:04.97) and Darian Kent (22:53.82) placed 20th, 37th and 52nd, respectively, for the Lady Knights.

Individually, Woodstock’s J.C. Cornett was ninth overall in Class AAAAAA with a time of 16:50.86, while teammate Owen Bailey finished 25th in 17:17.83.

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